1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus which includes a gate valve for opening/closing the exhaust port of a vacuum chamber and exhausts the interior of the vacuum chamber by an exhaust pump, a method of controlling the vacuum processing apparatus, a device manufacturing method, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional vacuum processing apparatus, for example, an arrangement as shown in FIG. 3 is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-42737). As shown in FIG. 3, this vacuum processing apparatus 101 includes a vacuum chamber 105 provided with an exhaust port 110 and an exhaust pump 106 communicating with the exhaust port 110 of the vacuum chamber 105. A gate valve 107 having a valve body 111 which opens/closes the exhaust port 110 is arranged near the exhaust port 110 of the vacuum chamber 105.
The gate valve 107 includes the valve body 111 arranged in the vacuum chamber 105, and a driving portion 112 to drive the valve body 111. The driving portion 112 has a set of rods 113a and 113b and a set of cylinders 114a and 114b. The rods 113a and 113b drive the valve body 111 in a direction (an arrow b in FIG. 3) to come close to the exhaust port 110 and a direction (an arrow a in FIG. 3) to separate from the exhaust port 110. The cylinders 114a and 114b drive the rods 113a and 113b, respectively.
The rods 113a and 113b extend parallel to the moving direction of the valve body 111 and each support the valve body 111 at its one end. The set of cylinders 114a and 114b are arranged at positions opposing each other across the exhaust port 110. The other end of each of the rods 113a and 113b is connected to the corresponding one of the cylinders 114a and 114b. The driving portion 112 is provided with bellows 118a and 118b which cover the outer surfaces of the rods 113a and 113b, respectively, to hermetically seal the rods 113a and 113b and cylinders 114a and 114b in a vacuum state.
The exhaust port 110 of the vacuum chamber 105 is provided with a seal portion 116. Upon being abutted by the valve body 111, the seal portion 116 hermetically closes the interior of the vacuum chamber 105. A variable orifice 123 may be mounted between the exhaust port 110 and exhaust pump 106. The size of the outer shape of the valve body 111 is larger than the opening area of the exhaust port 110 of the vacuum chamber 105. The valve body 111 is supported to be movable by the driving portion 112 between a closing position P11 for closing the exhaust port 110 and an opening position P12 for opening the exhaust port 110. The vacuum chamber 105 is further provided with another exhaust port 120 which communicates with an auxiliary pump (not shown).
During evacuation of the vacuum chamber 105, the valve body 111 is moved to the opening position P12 for opening the exhaust port 110. While evacuation of the vacuum chamber 105 is stopped, the valve body 111 is moved to the closing position P11 for closing the exhaust port 110.
In the conventional vacuum processing apparatus described above, however, when the exhaust pump and driving portion are to be set on the same side outside the vacuum chamber, one set of cylinders and one set of rods must be arranged each on the two sides across the exhaust pump. For this reason, in the conventional vacuum processing apparatus, in order to support the valve body 111, a plurality of installation spaces to arrange two rods 113a and 113b or more are necessary. Namely, the conventional vacuum processing apparatus tends to be bulky as a whole, which is inconvenient.